Free Projections + Analysis: Giannis Antetokounmpo

by Eric Wong on September 11, 2017

Let’s kick off our Free Projections + Analysis with The Greek Freak!

Even our Basic Draft Guide includes Player Profiles + Stat Projections for 300+ players. Some sites like to take the easy way out by relying on algorithms to make their projections, but we continue to calculate by hand, going team by team, player by player, category by category. Of course tons of research is done to properly assess each player, and these stats are added up for each team to make sure we’re not overshooting (for example, that we don’t have the new-look Timberwolves suddenly scoring 130+ points per game).

Giannis Antetokounmpo

After finishing 7th in the Most Improved Player voting for 2014-15 and 3rd in the same voting for 2015-16, Giannis finally won the Most Improved Player award last year (with 80% of the 1st place votes). That’s some really impressive growth from season to season, and while expectations are ridiculously high now, Antetokounmpo is talented enough to surpass them yet again.

Last season he shot a repectable 77% FT on 7.7 FTA, up from 72% on 5.1 FTA the season prior. So just in FT% alone, consider how much his fantasy value will climb if Giannis can improve to around 79% FT on 8.5+ FTA (quite possible). Last season The Greek Freak used his long limbs to rack up 8.8 rebounds (16th), 1.6 steals (11th), and 1.9 blocks per game (6th), and those could possibly climb to 9.0 boards, 1.75 steals and 2.0 blocks, showing off the skills that earned him All-Defensive 2nd team honors last year.

Offensively, Giannis ranked 21st in points and 26th in assists in 2016-17, but with Jabari Parker out for at least half the season, we should see The Alphabet finish the year ranked Top 15 in scoring and Top 20 in assists. Losing Jabari stings a little bit, but having a fully healthy Khris Middleton to start the season will help spread the floor and open up more driving lanes. His only real weakness is a missing 3-point shot (49-180 on threes last year, 27% 3P), but that will slowly but surely improve as well.

Bottom Line: The basketball revolution is being televised, and The Greek Freak is front and center with the scariest upside around. His tenacity and ultra-long limbs allow Giannis to do things on the court that most NBA players can only dream of, and it’s going to be UNFAIR when he develops a reliable 3-point shot. Due to his obvious talent and fierce desire, Kobe has challenged him to win MVP this season, but if you ask Giannis he might say, “why can’t I win Most Improved Player again AND the MVP?” You can freak, you can.

RotoEvil’s 2017-18 Projections for: Giannis Antetokounmpo

These free projections are being shown as images, but our Draft Guide users get access to a giant spreadsheet containing ALL of our Stat Projections, sortable by category, so you can quickly view league leaders and easily compare stats of similar players.

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